Lhasa

Lhasa de Sela: 2010 continued its rough start as this 37-year-old singer-songwriter succumbed to breast cancer. A frequent collaborator with Calexico as well as members of the Montreal indie rock scene, Lhasa was possessed of a dusky-smooth voice that could break your heart in three languages. Her sultry, Spanish-language debut from 1998, "La Llorona," best shows what we lost. Dan Savage's 'Savage Love' podcast: While only for the most mature audiences, this alt-weekly columnist and frequent cable pundit can eat up a road trip's hours with this weekly sex and relationship advice show.

Phil Zimmerman's article "Caught Up in Yunnan" [Oct. 28] talked about how he visited Yunnan province because he couldn't get into Tibet. True, Yunnan is heavily populated by ethnic Tibetans and the Chinese government decreed one county as the official Shangri-La, complete with a re-created Tibetan village, leading the author to conclude with, "Maybe I didn't need to visit Tibet after all," which seems like sour grapes. Having been fortunate enough to have been one of the last foreigners to visit Tibet in June, I can say the author missed an exciting and unique experience.

Tibet reopened to foreign tourists today, a Chinese official said, after the region was closed to foreign visitors following riots there in March. The first group of foreign tourists, from Sweden, arrived at the airport near the capital, Lhasa, this morning, said Tibetan Tourism Bureau spokesman Liao Lisheng. New China News Agency cited another tourism official as saying the Olympic torch relay over the weekend through Lhasa, the regional capital, proved that Tibet was stable enough to let foreign tourists back in. China closed Tibet to tourists after riots that erupted in Lhasa on March 14.

China has sentenced three Tibetan monks as accessories to murder for having helped another monk burn himself to death in a political protest. In the closely watched case in Sichuan province, Drongdru, the uncle of the monk who committed suicide, was ordered imprisoned for 11 years for "intentional homicide" in hiding the young monk, Phuntsog, and preventing him from getting medical treatment. Two other monks were sentenced to 10 and 13 years in prison after a separate trial Tuesday in which they were accused of "plotting, instigating and assisting" in the self-immolation of the 16-year-old monk, according to Tibetan exile groups.

China escalated its rhetoric against the Dalai Lama, accusing the Nobel Peace laureate and his supporters of planning suicide attacks. The Tibetan government-in-exile swiftly denied the charge. Wu Heping, spokesman for China's Ministry of Public Security, said searches of monasteries in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, had turned up a large cache of weapons. Beijing has accused the Dalai Lama and his supporters of orchestrating violence last month in Lhasa.

I went to Lhasa, Tibet, in June to honor the passing of my father. For an all-too-brief two-hour period, I experienced the heartfelt feelings described by Cherilyn Parsons in "Lhasa: Layer by Layer" [Oct. 9]. I had gone to the Jokang temple in the early afternoon when it was almost deserted. I sat there for more than half an hour. No words can describe my experience, except to say that the Jokang is one of the most sacred places on Earth. (I am not a Buddhist.) But here is where the story changes.

Monks stormed a news briefing at a temple in Lhasa, Tibet, accusing Chinese officials of lying about unrest and embarrassing authorities during a stage-managed tour by foreign reporters. Authorities say calm has been restored since an anti-China uprising erupted in the Tibetan capital two weeks ago. China says its security forces acted with restraint and that 19 people died at the hands of Tibetan mobs during the unrest. But the Tibetan government in exile says 140 died in Lhasa and elsewhere, most of them Tibetan victims of security forces, prompting international protest in advance of the Beijing Olympics.

A Tibetan snowstorm trapped about 150 tourists from North America, Europe and Japan in buses near the Nepal border, a Canadian reported after hiking to Katmandu, capital of Nepal. Fred Brooks said the tourists were in three buses en route from Lhasa to Nepal when the vehicles stalled in snow Oct. 19. At least three of the stranded travelers were reported to be Americans.

I was very interested in your "Seven Years in Tibet" article ("It Must Be Karma, by Laurence B. Chollet, Feb. 9), as I also made a film about the Dalai Lama and Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer. The difference in the films is that I used the 14-year-old Dalai Lama as the Dalai Lama and Harrer as Harrer. In addition, all of the temples, thousands of Buddhist monks and the actual Potala were my backdrops--all without Central Casting or a budget. My film, made in 1949, is a short documentary made during a trip to Lhasa.

REGARDING "Lhasa Layer by Layer" [Oct. 9]: I landed in Lhasa at the end of a monthlong trip through China, on the day Beijing admitted its SARS outbreak in April 2003. The first thing we noticed was the heavy military presence. Tibet is an occupied territory that is subject of intense Chinese colonialism. Despite this, the Tibetans were warm and generous. At the Ganden Monastery, a Tibetan family invited me to partake in a matrimonial ritual. A student gave me a free tour by city bus of western Lhasa.

Lhasa de Sela: 2010 continued its rough start as this 37-year-old singer-songwriter succumbed to breast cancer. A frequent collaborator with Calexico as well as members of the Montreal indie rock scene, Lhasa was possessed of a dusky-smooth voice that could break your heart in three languages. Her sultry, Spanish-language debut from 1998, "La Llorona," best shows what we lost. Dan Savage's 'Savage Love' podcast: While only for the most mature audiences, this alt-weekly columnist and frequent cable pundit can eat up a road trip's hours with this weekly sex and relationship advice show.

Tibet reopened to foreign tourists today, a Chinese official said, after the region was closed to foreign visitors following riots there in March. The first group of foreign tourists, from Sweden, arrived at the airport near the capital, Lhasa, this morning, said Tibetan Tourism Bureau spokesman Liao Lisheng. New China News Agency cited another tourism official as saying the Olympic torch relay over the weekend through Lhasa, the regional capital, proved that Tibet was stable enough to let foreign tourists back in. China closed Tibet to tourists after riots that erupted in Lhasa on March 14.

The riot began with a customer's complaint about her dinner. "Waitress, there's a tooth in my soup," a Tibetan woman said indignantly. Before long, a curious crowd of Tibetans gathered around the soup bowl. Restaurant owner Yun Sha came out of the kitchen and insisted that the offending item was just a chip off a lamb bone. "Let's trash this restaurant," Yun heard somebody scream, and the crowd proceeded to do just that. Tables, chairs, a television flew through the air.

China escalated its rhetoric against the Dalai Lama, accusing the Nobel Peace laureate and his supporters of planning suicide attacks. The Tibetan government-in-exile swiftly denied the charge. Wu Heping, spokesman for China's Ministry of Public Security, said searches of monasteries in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, had turned up a large cache of weapons. Beijing has accused the Dalai Lama and his supporters of orchestrating violence last month in Lhasa.

Monks stormed a news briefing at a temple in Lhasa, Tibet, accusing Chinese officials of lying about unrest and embarrassing authorities during a stage-managed tour by foreign reporters. Authorities say calm has been restored since an anti-China uprising erupted in the Tibetan capital two weeks ago. China says its security forces acted with restraint and that 19 people died at the hands of Tibetan mobs during the unrest. But the Tibetan government in exile says 140 died in Lhasa and elsewhere, most of them Tibetan victims of security forces, prompting international protest in advance of the Beijing Olympics.

A Chinese shopkeeper in Tibet's capital came out of hiding Monday for the first time since mobs ransacked his herb store last week, during the biggest uprising against the region's Chinese rulers in nearly two decades. Ma Zhonglong, 20, said he had had nothing but a few packets of instant noodles to eat since he ran for cover Friday when he saw hundreds of Tibetans smash and burn storefronts near the Jokhang Temple, the religious and geographical heart of Lhasa.

A medley of Chinese and foreign songs--including a syrupy version of "Swanee River" in English and Chinese--played on the sound system of our sleek Japanese-made bus as we rolled through the barren semi-desert of western China toward Tibet. With the fabled Kunlun Mountains of Taoist legend looming before us, our driver stopped to give rides to three burgundy-robed Tibetan monks hitchhiking our way. A pilgrim seated behind us softly chanted a prayer.

Former President Jimmy Carter took issue with official Chinese policy Tuesday by saying he hopes that Beijing will allow the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, to live in Tibet once again. "My own hope is that the Dalai Lama would be permitted to come and live where he chooses," Carter told a press conference Tuesday at the end of a tour of China that included a two-day visit to Tibet.

The spread of protests from Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, to neighboring communities and now Gansu province represents a crisis for a government eager to project an image of friendly confidence and cultural refinement in advance of the Beijing Olympics. On Saturday, a massive police presence could be seen blanketing Xiahe, a holy city outside Tibet that houses the sprawling Labrang Monastery complex, one of the most revered in Tibetan Buddhism.

Tibet was hit by a fresh wave of violence Friday as protests by hundreds of Buddhist monks and other residents against Chinese rule resulted in burned shops, vandalized police vehicles and at least 10 deaths, government officials and witnesses said. American citizens in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, reported rioting and gunfire, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said in a warning to stay away from the city, which has seen several days of anti-Chinese protests. "All care should be taken to avoid unnecessary movement within the city until the situation is under control," the alert said.